Torsello, Davide - Pappová, Melinda: Social Networks in Movement. Time, interaction and interethnic spaces in Central Eastern Europe - Nostra Tempora 8. (Somorja-Dunaszerdahely, 2003)

Appedixes

Research on the ethnic problematic 277

Appendix 1

Research on the ethnic problematic at the Institute for Social Studies of the Slovak Academy of Sciences

Štefan Šutaj

The Institute for Social Sciences in Košice has been working within the network of social science institutes of the Slovak Academy of Sciences. The Institute was established in 1975. In 2000, it celebrated its 25th anniversary. On that occasion, a monothematic volume of the Institute’s papers was published under the title Man and Society.1 This volume contains detailed information on the Institute’s research interest fields.

The Institute for Social Sciences at the SAV2 is a multidisciplinary institute with two large interest spheres. The first relates to social psychology and concentrates on the sociopsychological study of the problems of interpersonal interaction, with an accent on questions about the regulation of social behaviour, social norms and interpersonal aggression. The second field of interest concerns historical research on modern Slovakian history, with a focus on the period following World War II. Both spheres of research share a focus on the study of ethnic minority groups and on interdisciplinary research on macro-social phenomena, ethnic minorities, social and ethnic identities.

The changes that followed 1989 affected the Institute’s activities greatly. On the one hand, the number of employees has rapidly decreased. On the other hand, work efficiency, overall productivity and the number of publications have increased. The quality of these publications has also improved. Moreover, the overall changes influenced the inter-